The present invention relates to an electric lock, particularly for the door of a motor vehicle and more specifically to a lock which is locked/unlocked electrically.
There is known a lock for the door of a motor vehicle which comprises a first electric motor capable, via a set of gears, of driving a locking lever to move a lever for opening from the outside between a locked position in which the lever for opening from the outside is inactive and an unlocked position in which the lever for opening from the outside is able to cause the lock to open, under the action of a means for opening from the outside, for example an external door handle or paddle. This lock has a second electric motor for deadlocking capable, via a second set of gears, of deadlocking the lock with respect to the external and internal door handles and with respect to the lock stalk.
However, a lock of this kind requires two completely different drivelines to be designed, one for the locking function and one for the deadlocking function. As a result, the motors have to be placed in an electrical compartment separate from the driveline compartment containing the various levers for opening and locking the lock.
The object of the invention is to provide an electric lock in which the drivelines for locking and deadlocking are simplified.
To this end, the subject of the invention is an electric lock, particularly for the door of a motor vehicle, comprising a first electric motor for locking from the outside, capable of driving a lever for locking from the outside to move a lever for opening from the outside between a position of being locked from the outside, in which position the lever for opening from the outside is inactive and a position of being unlocked from the outside, in which position the lever for opening from the outside is able to cause the lock to open, under the action of a means for opening from the outside, and a second electric motor which allows the lock to be placed in a deadlocked position wherein said second electric motor is capable of driving a lever for locking from the inside to move a lever for opening from the inside between a position of being locked from the inside, in which position the lever for opening from the inside is inactive, and a position of being unlocked from the inside, in which position the lever for opening from the inside is able to cause the lock to open, under the action of a means for opening from the inside, it being possible for the two aforementioned motors to be powered simultaneously to deadlock the lock as far as opening from the outside and as far as opening from the inside are concerned, whereas the first electric motor can be powered by itself to lock the lock as far as opening from the outside is concerned.
In a first alternative form, in the case of a motor vehicle front door, powering the second electric motor causes the first motor to be powered at the same time.
In another alternative form, in the case of a rear door lock, the second electric motor can be powered by itself so as to child-lock the lock so that it cannot be opened from the inside.
Advantageously, the lever for locking from the inside and the lever for locking from the outside are superposed and mounted on the same articulation pin.
According to another feature, a worm gear is mounted on the drive shaft of each electric motor, each gear meshing with a toothed sector at one end of one branch of the associated locking lever.
According to another feature, the branch of one of the locking levers which bears one toothed sector is shorter than the branch of the other locking lever which bears the other toothed sector, the longer branch also exhibiting a step so that the two toothed sectors are arranged in two planes parallel to and distant from each other.
According to yet another feature, the two motors, the two locking levers and the two opening levers are housed in the same compartment of the lock casing.
Advantageously, the lever for locking from the inside has a branch which can collaborate with a boss on the lock casing, so as to define two stable positions, one on each side of said boss, by said lever for locking from the inside passing elastically over said boss.
In order to give a better understanding of the subject matter of the invention, one embodiment thereof and depicted in the appended drawing will now be described by way of purely illustrative and nonlimiting example.